In Year 4, we are working on writing a balanced argument about whether animals should be fed in National Parks. The children had to work collectively in their table groups and come up with reasons in favour of feeding animals and also reasons against feeding animals in National Parks.  I was so impressed by not only the fantastic team work I saw, but also how deeply and thoughtfully the children were thinking of evidence for and against the argument. Here are some photographs of the excellent team work I witnessed:

The children were then tasked with presenting and pitching their argument and reasons to the rest of the class. All of the children got involved in this and were elaborate and passionate when presenting. 

Using an array of the ideas and reasons voiced by each group, we then constructed reasons for and reasons against feeding animals in National Parks as a whole class. Here is what we came up with…